Iran executed two men on Thursday over accusations of membership in militant groups and armed action against the state, the judiciary’s Mizan News reported.
The report identified the men as Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour and said their sentences had been upheld by the Supreme Court.
Iranian officials’ recent comments about Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei are aimed at showing he remains in charge and will ultimately decide whether Tehran accepts a deal with the United States to end the war, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
The report said officials had begun speaking more openly about Khamenei’s condition amid speculations that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards were effectively running decision-making.
“They are projecting that there’s no change . . . the supreme leader was the apex of the system and is still the apex,” Vali Nasr, a former US official and professor at Johns Hopkins University was quoted as saying. “And that he’s alive, functioning and in control.”
He added that the guards were also seeking to project that “they are not running the show and [Khamenei is] not just a figurehead.”
Iranian officials’ recent comments about Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei are aimed at showing he remains in charge and will ultimately decide whether Tehran accepts a deal with the United States to end the war, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
The report said officials had begun speaking more openly about Khamenei’s condition amid speculations that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards were effectively running decision-making.
“They are projecting that there’s no change . . . the supreme leader was the apex of the system and is still the apex,” Vali Nasr, a former US official and professor at Johns Hopkins University was quoted as saying. “And that he’s alive, functioning and in control.”
He added that the guards were also seeking to project that “they are not running the show and [Khamenei is] not just a figurehead.”
The report referred to remarks by Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mazaher Hosseini, a senior official in the Supreme Leader’s office.
Pezeshkian said on earlier this month that he had met with the Supreme Leader, offering a first public account of him meeting Mojtaba Khamenei since he suffered severe wounds at the start of the Iran war on February 28.
Hosseini said later that Mojtaba Khamenei suffered minor injuries to his kneecap, back and behind his ear in the airstrikes that killed his father and wife, insisting he is now in “full health” and dismissing reports of a serious head injury as “lies.”
US Air Force Chief of Staff General Kenneth S. Wilsbach said the MQ-9 Reaper had emerged as the “most valuable player” of operations against Iran, carrying out more strikes than any other US aircraft during Operation Epic Fury despite the loss of around 30 drones to Iranian air defenses and attacks on regional bases, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Wilsbach said “no other platform is even close to the MQ-9” in strike volume during the conflict, highlighting the drone’s ability to conduct long-endurance missions without risking pilots.
The report said Reapers flew persistent missions over Iran targeting missile launchers, airfields and mobile targets, while also helping enforce the US military blockade around the Strait of Hormuz.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has come under mounting attack from Iran’s hardline factions after publicly defending negotiations with the United States and warning that war and sanctions are inflicting serious economic damage on the country.
Pezeshkian questioned opponents of diplomacy in a speech that quickly triggered a fierce backlash from hardline media and politicians.
“If we do not negotiate, then what should we do? Fight forever?” the president said Monday, adding that any talks with Washington would be conducted “with dignity.” He also argued that authorities must speak honestly to the public in order to maintain trust.
The reformist newspaper Sazandegi turned the president’s question into its front-page headline, framing it as a direct challenge to hardline rhetoric.
The reaction from hardline outlets close to the Paydari (Steadfastness) Party was swift.
Raja News described Pezeshkian’s remarks as “deviational” and accused him of becoming “a platform for the pro-Western current.”
In an editorial published Tuesday, the outlet wrote that insistence on negotiations with an enemy that “understands nothing but force” showed that “even the warnings of missiles are not enough to awaken simplistic minds that are comforted by the lullaby of negotiations.”
Hardline lawmaker Hamid Rasaei also attacked the administration during a speech at a pro-government gathering, arguing that negotiations with the United States had repeatedly failed and would bring no benefit to Iran.
Diplomacy continued amid such voices on Wednesday as Pezeshkian met Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who is in Tehran to help exchange messages between Iran and Washington.
Pezeshkian said afterward that Iran had “consistently honored its commitments and explored every avenue to avert war,” adding that “all paths remain open from our side.”
The debate quickly spread across Persian-language social media, where hardline activists accused the president of weakness while supporters praised his candor and argued that acknowledging economic strain was necessary to maintain public trust during wartime.
The controversy also expanded beyond diplomacy into a broader dispute over whether Iranian officials should openly acknowledge the country’s economic and wartime difficulties.
In recent speeches, Pezeshkian warned against presenting an unrealistic image of Iran by pretending enemies were collapsing while Iran itself faced no economic strain. He spoke openly about oil export problems, gasoline shortages and the pressure created by sanctions and war.
Raja News accused the president of “displaying misery and backwardness” and “painting a bleak picture during wartime.”
The outlet mocked what it called his “latest masterpieces,” including remarks such as: “They blocked our path and we are not exporting oil,” “our gasoline production capacity has declined,” and “do we even have dollars at all?”
The backlash also exposed widening tensions within conservative circles, particularly between the ultrahardline Paydari camp and allies of parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
Raja News criticized media outlets close to Ghalibaf for failing to sufficiently challenge the president’s comments, while some hardline activists accused the speaker of enabling Pezeshkian’s approach.
Following the criticism, Ghalibaf issued an audio message defending the government against what he described as politically motivated attacks.
Ghalibaf warned that some critics were speaking “as if no war had happened,” accusing politically motivated figures of blaming the government while ignoring broader realities.
Supporters of the president meanwhile defended his unusually candid tone.
Lawyer Yazdollah Taherinasab wrote on X that Pezeshkian’s willingness to speak openly about both the country’s strengths and weaknesses had increased public trust during wartime conditions.
The US is stepping up efforts to target Iran’s use of cryptocurrency, with officials saying Tehran controls roughly $7.7 billion in digital assets and has used Bitcoin and other crypto channels to move money outside the traditional banking system, according to Fox Business reporting.
Treasury officials also said nearly $500 million in crypto linked to Iran has been frozen as part of enforcement actions aimed at cutting off financial networks tied to the Iranian government, the report added.